December 2008 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Fins & Tales
Serving Kitchener-Waterloo and the surrounding area since 1960
In This Issue: Volume 48, Issue 10
B.A.P. Year End Report
Miecia’s second term as
BAP Chairperson saw
the club’s first Class E
success as well as 11
participants and 44
certificates awarded.
Page 5
TMA in North Africa
The one thing that
impressed itself upon
me as we toured the
lands of North Africa
was… Page 6
Rivulus cylindraceus
Have you ever
wondered why Killies
are so popular in the
aquarium hobby? Al
Ridley shares his
experience breeding
these colourful fish.
Page 18
Oktoberfish Pics!
253 entries in show,
1674 items auctioned,
12 hours of fishy fun!
Page 9
Complimentary Copy
Welcome to our club!
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, December 2 nd at 7:30pm
Annual Holiday Social
Official Publication of the Kitchener-Waterloo Aquarium Society
http://www.kwas.ca

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
This Issue Contains...
TMA in North Africa
November Name That Fish
Oktoberfish 2008 Wrap Up
Breeding Killies
From The VP’s Desk
Page 4
From The Editors’ Desk
Page 4
2008 BAP Summary
Rein wanders around North
Africa looking for evidence of
fish and comes back with a set
of wonderful stories straight
of of African history.
In Morocco, an ancient eel pit
remains within a fortress outside
the Capital. In the Chellah, as it
is known, the small dark stonelined
water feature remains. The
eels are said to hold great
reproductive powers and local
women to this day feed hard
boiled eggs to the eels in hopes of
enhancing their own fertility by
association.
A trio of adult Zebra
Obliquidens (Astatotilapia
latifasciata) and a Yoyo Loach
(Botia almorhae) were
November’s Name That Fish at
our general meeting. Zenin
writes about the care and
requirements for these two
species on page 8. Congrats to
the winners, but if you missed
it live you’ll need to look
inside to find out who won.
Page 8
On Sunday October 26 th 2008,
KWAS held our annual
Oktoberfish Show and
Auction at The Waterloo Inn.
With 15 tables, more than 1600
items from 81 sellers and over
250 show entries it was the
biggest Oktoberfish show
ever. Zenin was there with his
camera and captured it all. We
have a selection of his best
photos printed here, but you
can see all 155+ photos here:
tinyurl.com/oktoberfish2008
Page 9
Al shares his experience
breeding these very
interesting mop-spawning
fish:
Killies are rarely encountered in
pet shops, but they are easy to
obtain. I will point out that
killies and glass lids are
synonymous. If you plan to keep
killies, you absolutely need to
have a tight fitting lid or at the
very least a thick covering of
plants such as duckweed or
hornwort. They love to jump!
Page 14
Page 5
Membership Renewals
Page 12
January’s Program
Page 12
2008 Jar Show Results
Page 15
November Minutes
Page 16
Exchange Editor’s Report
Page 18
Page 6
Upcoming Fishy Events
• Dec 2nd - KWAS Holiday Social
• Dec 9th - KWAS Business Meeting
• Dec 14th - CAOAC Meeting
• Jan 6th - KWAS General Meeting
• Jan 13th - KWAS Business Meeting
• Jan 20th - Oktoberfish Wrap-up (Tentative)
On the front cover
This photo by Phil Mazynk of his
Firemouth Cichlid won the
November 2008 People’s Choice Fish
of the Month contest on the KWAS
forums (www.kwas.ca/forum).
On the back cover
Congrats to Brad Smith!
Brad did very well at the International Fancy
Guppy Association annual show held in Chicago
Illinois where there were 574 entries total.
He Won: 1 st & 2 nd Novice tank, 2 nd Novice delta,
2 nd Novice veil, 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd Novice female, 2 nd
best in show Female guppy.
This 135G High-Tech planted tank
won November’s Tank of the Month
contest. With 100+ Cardinal Tetras,
10 bags of Eco-Complete, 340W of
T5HO light and CO2 this tank
supports 30+ species of plants, and is
owned by the Turner/Morose family.
Get you cameras out! Your fish or tank could be featured in an upcoming
edition of Fins & Tales! How? All you have to do is win the monthly People’s
Choice Photo Contest on our forum. Submit pictures to webmaster@kwas.ca
before the 1 st of each month then vote between the 1 st and the 7 th .
Check out the inside back cover for a teaser of our annual shootout!
2

KWAS Mission Statement
The Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society KWAS is a nonprofit
organization whose primary goals are to:
• Further the hobby and study of tropical fish and related
endeavors
• Inspire the preservation of aquatic life
• Maintain a meeting place for its members
• Develop and maintain a library on aquatic life
• Promote fellowship among its members
• Seek out and establish a kinship with other clubs with
similar objectives
KWAS is a charter member of CAOAC:
The Canadian Association of Aquarium Clubs
Fins & Tales is published 10 times each year between the
months of September and June for KWAS members. Opinions
expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of the Fins & Tales editors or KWAS. The
mention of any product does not constitute an endorsement by
Fins & Tales or KWAS members.
Reprint Policy — Articles from this publication may be printed
in a not for profit publication provided credit is given to both
the author and KWAS. Copies of the reprint must be sent to
both the author and KWAS. Any other use is prohibited
without the written consent of KWAS.
D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
KWAS Officials 2008 - 2009
Executive
President ** To Be Elected in May **
Vice President Geoff Money (gmoney@golden.net)
Treasurer Brad McClanahan (nasfan@3web.com)
Secretary Lezley Smith (scarlett_0767@hotmail.com)
Past President Al Ridley (pyrofish@sympatico.ca)
Board of Directors
Editor/Publisher Cameron Turner, Tanya Morose
(editor@kwas.ca)
Exchange Editor Zenin Skomorowski (zenin@golden.net)
Membership Chair Miecia Burden (miecia@rogers.com)
Auction Chair Ed Koerner (edkoerner@sympatico.ca)
Oktoberfish Chair *** Position Open ***
Librarian David Bradley (davesolo29@sympatico.ca)
Lunch Committee Katie McClanahan (nasfan@3web.com)
Programs Al Ridley (pyrofish@sympatico.ca)
Raffle Chair Charity Gilmore (char_n_jenn@rogers.com)
B.A.P Chair Miecia Burden (miecia@rogers.com)
H.A.P Chair Filipe Martins (filipem@rogers.com)
CAOAC Reps *** Positions Open ***
Name That Fish Zenin Skomorowski (zenin@golden.net)
Jar Show Anthony McAslin (mcspetworld@sympatico.ca)
Webmaster Phil Maznyk (webmaster@kwas.ca)
Pet Store Liaisons Al Ridley (pyrofish@sympatico.ca)
Zenin Skomorowski (zenin@golden.net)
Exchange Program — KWAS exchanges newsletters with other
clubs across North America. If your club is interested in
becoming a part of this program please contact our exchange
editor by mail or e-mail zenin@golden.net
Correspondence — Please send all correspondence to the
Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society, Box 38037 256 King
Street North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2J 4T9.
Submission of Articles
Cover images and articles can be submitted for publication in
Fins & Tales by all hobbyists and must be submitted digitally.
Priority is given to KWAS members and to topics that have not
been recently covered. Not all submissions will be printed in
the month they are submitted. The editors of Fins & Tales may
be required to edit your submission for length, spelling,
grammar and/or clarity. Please indicate if you would like to
proof read the edited version prior to official publication.
Submissions are due via email to the editors (editor@kwas.ca)
by the 15 th day of the month for publication in the upcoming
issue of Fins & Tales. Please contact us if you have any
questions or would like suggestions or feedback on possible
article topics.
Advertise in Fins & Tales
Please contact the newsletter editor if you are interested in
advertising in KWAS Fins & Tales. Rates apply for one entire
year (10 issues) and guarantee that we will make space for your
ads if needed.
Business Card $25/yr
1/4 Page $60/yr
1/2 Page $100/yr
Full Page $150/yr
Back Cover $225/yr
Advertising of any hobby related items in Fins & Tales is free to
KWAS members in good standing, space permitting.
Join KWAS
2009 Membership Fees
Adult Family
1 Year $25 $30
2 Years $48 $58
3 Years $71 $86
4 Years $92 $112
5 Years $100 $120
3

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
From the Vice President’s Desk
Hello all, I’m sure you are wondering why I am writing this
page?
Well, our President, Kevin, has stepped down. Kevin needs to
look after some family affairs and work commitments, so I wish
him well with his endeavors and look forward to seeing him
back in the club in the New Year. Therefore, I’m am acting
president until the election in May.
I hope you all enjoyed our speaker Jim Robinson at the last
meeting, he is certainly an entertaining speaker. We will have to
get him back again in the future to hear more of his breeding
techniques.
So, another Oktoberfish is behind us and what a year! We had a
record number of entries in the show, certainly the best we have
had in recent years, and the auction had so many items it went
on forever.
I would like to thank everyone that had a part in helping out at
Oktoberfish. I know there were quite a few people that put
many hours into organizing the day. Many of you have no idea
how many hours people put in to making the day a success,
and all without asking for reward.
So I’m not going to single anyone out, I just want to say a big
“thank you” to all who helped out.
Our next meeting is our Christmas social, we have flounder
downs, kid’s auction and for the adults a reverse auction. So
plan to attend and bring your favourite dish to share with the
club.
We will be giving out our annual awards, Hobbyist of the year,
Junior Hobbyist of the year, Author of the year, Bob and
Dorothy Daniell’s Service Award and President’s Award.
The competition awards will also be given out, Breeder of the
year, Horticulturist of the year and Senior and Junior show jars.
Remember there is no auction, show jar or name that fish, also
we are not taking any membership that night.
This will be the last meeting until the New Year, so I would like
to wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New
year.
From The Editor’s Desk
Surprise! We got the newsletter done two months in a row!
Do you like the new newsletter layout? We hope so, we put a lot
of effort into coming up with something fresh while trying to
maintain the quality levels of the previous editors. If you have
any comments, criticisms or suggestions please let us know.
Now down to business:
We need articles!
Clear enough? You’ll notice that this issue has shrunk to just 20
pages, large by the standards of other aquarium clubs, but tiny
compared to the last year here at KWAS (the high was 32 pages
in Feb 2008!).
Most of our regular contributors have had to step down because
of various family and work obligations and we haven’t seen
many of them since the summer break. Now it’s your turn to
step up and share your knowledge. We’ll even bribe you. A free
pair of guppies to any non-regular contributor, a trio for
anything from junior club members. Yes, that was meant as an
incentive not a punishment.
I’d also like to take this chance to welcome my wife Tanya to the
editing and layout team. She’s been proof reading behind the
scenes for months but now we’re spending some quality time
together learning how to use our new MacBook. Romantic eh?
More than half of the new page layouts in this issue were her
idea.
Lastly, I just want to say thanks to Kevin for volunteering his
time this past year and a half as our club president. Thanks for
putting up with my newbie BOD questions :).
Have a safe, happy and warm holiday season and we’ll see you
next year!
Cam Turner & Tanya Morose
Newsletter Editors, KWAS
See you at the meeting.
Geoff Money
Vice President, KWAS
4

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Breeder’s Award Program Report
Submitted by Miecia Burden, KWAS BAP Chair (miecia@rogers.com)
This is my second term as the BAP Chairperson and I’m still on a learning curve. 2008 has been an active year with 11 participants
who bred (or should I say housed) 44 different species of fish in 9 separate categories. Participants earned 44 certificates this year,
congratulations! Special congratulations to the KWAS members who earned or qualified for Breeder Awards (details below).
Geoff Money has qualified for the CAOAC General Intermediate Breeder Award which will be given out at the 2009 CAOAC
Convention in May 2009. Special congratulations to KWAS members for their great work in breeding fish.
Most of the fish bred by BAP participants were already in our database with allocated points. I had to do a bit of research for those
that weren’t. I compared the characteristics, breeding habits, etc., of the ‘unpointed’ fish with similar types of fish in our database,
and then, recommended a point value for ‘unpointed’ fish to the BOD. Several the members in the program have not completed
the requirements for their awards (either by the sale of fish at a KWAS meeting auction or writing an an article for Fins & Tales),
so their certificates (14 in total), are on hold until the requirements are met. If you have not received an award that you think you
should have received please feel free to contact me.
Thanks to all who participated in the program this year – keep up the good work! I’ve enjoyed meeting with you to check your
fish and look forward to many more great visits! Thank you to anyone on the BOD who completed inspections, which saved me
much time and effort.
Latin Name (Common Name)
Class
Kevin Reimer - 85 points in 2008
Synodontis petricola
E
Otopharynx lithobates
B
Crytocara moori
B
Rineloricario eigenmanni (Whiptail catfish)
D
Poecilia sphenops (White Molly)
A
Puntius semifasciolatus (Gold Barb)
B
Peocilia (Acanthophacelus) wengei (Endlers livebearer) A
Taylor Kipfer - 20 points in 2008
Copadichromis borleyi (Borleyi)
Haplochromis latifasciatus (Zebra)
Dave Henderson - 55 points in 2008, Junior Breeder Award
Aulonocara Sp Albino Eureka Red (Albino Eureka) B
Labidochromis Caeruleus (Electric Yellow Lab) B
Protomelas Steveni (Taiwanee Reef) B
Placidochromis phenochilus B
Neolamprologus leleupi (Lemon Cichlid) C
Al Ridley - 20 points in 2008
Julidochromis transcriptus (Gombi)
Rivulus cylindraceus (Cuban rivulus)
Ed Koerner - 5 points in 2008
Cichlosoma octofaciatum (Jack Dempsey)
Peter Kipfer - 10 points in 2008
Copadichromis borleyi (Borleyi)
Cam Turner - 20 points in 2008
Ancistrus temminckii (Dwarf Bristlenosed Pleco)
B
B
C
A
A
B
D
John Harrop - 10 points in 2008
Melanotaenia praecox (Dwarf Neon Rainbows)
Cheryl Schaefer - 20 points in 2008, Junior Breeder Award
Ancistrus temminckii (Dwarf Bristlenosed Pleco) D
Stephen Crawford - 210 points in 2008,
Junior and Elementary Breeder Awards
Limia perugiae
Pelvichromis Pulcher (Super Red Krib)
Thorichthys (Firemouth Cichlid)
Ancistrus Sp (Albino Bristlenosed Pleco)
Carlhubbsia stuarti (Banded Widow)
Geophagus brasillensis (Pearl Cichlid)
Geophagus steindachneri (Red Hump Cichlid)
Symphysodon aequifasciatus (Red turq Discus)
Neocaridina denticulata sinensis (Cherry Shrimp)
Caridina cantonensis (Tiger Shrimp)
Neocaridina heteropoda (Dwarf Yellow Shrimp)
Xiphophoreus helleri (Swordtail)
Poecilia reticulta (Guppy)
Poecilia wingei (Endler's Livebearer)
Corydoras pygmaeus (Pygmay Cory)
Corydoras habrosus (Dwarf Cory)
Corydoras aeneus (Albino cory)
Corydoras paleatus (Pepper Cory)
Poecilia sphenops (Black Molly)
Girardinus metallicus (Metalic livebearer)
Geoff Money - 25 points in 2008
Aphyosemion ardneri
A
Tanichthys albonubes (White Cloud Mountain Minnow) A
Neolamprolgus brevis
C
B
A
B
A
D
A
C
C
D
B
B
B
A
A
A
C
A
C
C
A
A
5

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
The Minimalist Aquarist
In North Africa
Doing more with less and keeping it simple: TMA’s Collection of Greatest Tales about Tails
— by Rein Breitmaier, KWAS (mrrein@gmail.com)
The one thing that impressed itself upon
me as we toured the lands of North
Africa was the famine of evidence of
fishes. You may recall the biblical story
known as the feeding of the five
thousand, where Jesus is said to have
gathered two loaves of bread and five
fishes with which he was able to feed five
thousand hungry early Christians. A
great story even if you don’t cling to the
religious tenets imbedded therein.
From time to time TMA would uncover a
fishy theme or at least a fishing theme as
with our first photo taken in the Mastaba
of Ti, at Saqqara in Egypt. Good old Ti
was an overseer of pyramid constructions
at Abu Sir, which puts him just under
4,500 years ago and this was his personal
tomb. The relief depicted was part of a
fishing theme that also included hippos
fighting with crocodiles but what is
obvious to my eyes is a Synodontis type
catfish that jumps out from the mural.
The range of these fishes must have
included the Nile River in this time but
how could they know these fishes often
like to swim upside down?
One would not learn this by netting or
hooking one on a fishing line. The
measure of detail carved into stone that
has survived the ages is as good as some
line drawings I’ve seen in some much
more recent texts. Could Ti have been an
early aquarist?
Our next friend of the hobby is from the
same depiction of everyday life in the 5 th
Dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom and
certainly has Cichlid written all over his
features. Compare this chiseled
masterpiece with a Tilapia that I spotted
in an aquarium a week later. While it is
possible that some trade existed with
other parts of the world, it seems unlikely
that fishes would have survived a camel
trek across the desert so again these
fishes must have been native to the Nile
River.
What happened with the underlings
however did not translate to the nobility.
Where we saw many food stuffs
including animals offered to the various
Gods of the day as depicted on tomb
walls, fishes were never on the list. Isis,
the Goddess of magic, protector of her
brother husband Osiris (inter-marrying of
close family members was not forbidden
6

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
then), is credited with the start of the
fishes ban. It seems the Goddess had a
jealous brother-in-law Seth (God of chaos,
go figure), who killed Osiris one day and
chopped him into 45 pieces, throwing
them into the river. Of course being a
Goddess bestows special powers onto
oneself, so the poor widow of legend
managed to salvage 44 of the pieces of
her late husband from the river and
reassembled him. One little part
necessary for procreation (draw your
own picture here folks) remained
missing. As the fishes of the river were
held in this tale to have been responsible
for digesting that ‘manhood’ portion of
poor Osiris’ anatomy, they were
thereafter deemed unsuitable or unclean
as dinner fare for the Pharaohs. They
considered themselves to be no less than
living Gods after all. Don’t feel too badly
for Isis and Osiris though as they lived
happily ever after and were even blessed
with a son (Horus) and that’s another
whole story of legend. The fishes sadly
never recovered any position of
importance to the Egyptians beyond
serving as peasant food for the masses.
To ensure balanced reporting, permit me
also to share another side of a story. In
Morocco, an ancient Eel pit remains
within a fortress outside the Capital,
Rabat, which at one time in history was a
Roman outpost and at another time, a
Moorish stronghold.
Within the Chellah as it is known, the
small dark stone-lined water feature
remains still, surrounded today by eager
cats hoping for an eel sandwich. The eels
for their part are said to hold great
reproductive powers and local women to
this day attend to feed hard boiled eggs
to the eels in hopes of enhancing their
own fertility by association. Not one to
take such legend too lightly, TMA had the
ancient caretaker feed the eels for me, to
lure them out. This meter long beauty
with electric blue pectoral fins sidled out
of the shadows for a quick chomp before
retreating again. I hate to think what the
water chemistry in the pond must be,
what with all the uneaten egg salad
laying about on the bottom, but then
again there is probably a host of young
eels feeding on the infusoria cultures
abounding from that.
Lastly, while touring in central Spain we
saw the adjacent piece in a local art show.
It speaks to the state of our environment
in a smart and demonstrative way.
Entitled Perca (for perch) anillada (for
annihilation) with the subtitle Lepomis
(sunfish) industrial mutation it fancifully
reveals the artist’s intent. This fish’s story
is revealed in its hundreds of pop can
pull tabs for scales and is said to ‘use this
extraordinary adaptation brought about
by contamination of its marine
environment to camouflage itself and
thereby avoid predators. My tip of the hat
goes to the budding young art student
who’s name was lost to me (when my
notebook was lost/stolen somewhere in
Rabat, Morocco) for this excellent work.
Envision with me, a chain mail suit of
armour for our fishes, sufficient so that
we ‘bumblers of the planet’ could do
them no further harm.
Have you told your kids a fish story
today?
TMA
7

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
November Name That Fish
Submitted by Zenin Skomorowski, KWAS (zenin@golden.net). All photos by the author.
Female Zebra Obliquidens (Astatotilapia latifasciata)
A Yoyo Loach (Botia almorhae)
These fish originally come
from Lake Victoria and
satellite lakes in East Africa.
Unfortunately, this fish is
pretty well extinct in the wild.
The only specimens left are in
aquariums around the world.
Their mostly carnivore diet
should include frozen shrimp,
krill, live worms, insects and
high protein flakes and pellets
to bring out their colour
highlights. The males have a
silver body with some yellow
and a red belly. The female of
the same age as the male will
be a bit smaller and have a
yellow body. Both have wide
vertical black bars extending
into the dorsal fin. Both have
egg spots on the anal fin.
They are very good parents
and take care of their fry for
up to two months.
A minimum of 50 gallons
should be provided for an
adult trio, since they grow to
12-15 cm ( 5-6 inches ).
Hiding places in piles of rocks
should be provided. The
water can be in a range of pH
from 7.0 to 8.6. Temperature
can be 25.5 to 28°C (78 to
82°F).
These social fish are originally
from India, Nepal and
Bangladesh. They are now
bred and raised on farms in
various parts of South-East
Asia. Best kept in a group of 3
or more. The younger yoyo
loaches have a distinct black
or grey “YO” repeating
pattern on a silver or white
body that gives their common
name. Adults grow to about
15 cm ( 6 inches ) and show
more black lines and
connecting patterns, and a
darker body.
They are easy to feed,
sometimes aggressive,
omnivores. Give good quality
flake, sinking pellets, algae
wafers, chopped earthworms,
thawed frozen bloodworm
and mysis shrimp. Snails are
also a favourite food. Water
parameters should have pH of
6.5 to 7.5, but they tolerate
higher, and a temperature
range of 24 to 28°C (75 to 82
°F). Like all botia loaches,
they are diggers that
appreciate a sand substrate to
protect the delicate barbels.
Females regularly fill up with
eggs, but there has not been
any significant reproduction
in the home aquarium.
A group of 3 adult
Zebra Obliquidens
was guessed by
Terry Clements (left)
This large YoYo
loach was guessed
by Jeff Samson (right)
8

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Octoberfish 2008 Wrap Up
Submitted by Zenin Skomorowski, KWAS (zenin@golden.net). All photos by the author.
On Sunday October 26 th 2008, KWAS held our annual Oktoberfish Show and Auction at The Waterloo Inn. This year, we were
back upstairs in the Vienna Ballroom. The Show was set up in the back third of the room. The Auction took the remaining two
thirds. Kent and his family had a couple of computers for registration/checkout at the entrance. New this year was a third
computer up at the front to enter the item chits, saving a lot of steps for the runners … yay!
The Show had 253 entries compared to 174 last year. The class with the most entries was Male Betta with 21 entries. There were
31 entrants from 7 clubs. Last year, there were 22 entrants from 7 clubs. KWAS was represented by 16 entrants who won 14 first
place, 13 second place and 19 third place awards. Last year, KWAS had only 9 entrants. KWAS did very well in the category
awards. Jonathan Samson was awarded Best Junior. Stephen Crawford was awarded Best Cichlid. Anthony McAslin was
awarded Best Egg Layer and Best in Show. Congratulations to all.
For the Auction, we had 174 registered buyers compared to 148 last year. There were 81 sellers of 139 lots of goods with 1674
items sold. Last year, there were 57 sellers of 93 lots containing 1050 items.
There were 3 auctioneers in rotation with 2 active at any time. The last item from table 15 was sold at 8:30 pm.
Full results from the show are published on the KWAS website at www.kwas.ca/oktoberfish.htm.
Auctioneers Rein, Randy and Bob
Red Shoulder Severum
Anthony’s Tomato Clown won Best Egg Layer and Best in Show
Synodondtis multipunctatus in the AOV Catfish Class.
9

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Red Male Betta
Placidochromis sp. Phenochilus Tanzania
21 entries in the Male Betta class
Plecos are always a favourite
Longnosed Distichodus
Something for everyone in the auction
10

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Anthony, Jonathan and Sue win Large SA Cichlids
Jonathan was top Junior
John, Kevin and Sue win AOV Anabantids
Stephen had the Best Cichlid
Show chairman Geoff presents Best in Show to Anthony
Charlie Drew’s (H&DAS) Black Lyre Tail Sword
11

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Is your membership up for renewal in January 2009?
Family membership is $30 - 1 or 2 adults and any children under 18 years in same residence
Adult Membership is $25 - any individual over 18 years
Junior Membership is $10 - any individual under 18 years
Adams Family
Anderson Family
Austin Family
Ballard Family
Kristina Banks
Tim Bellhouse
Frank Berkin
Bermudez Family
Boulton Family
Dave Bradley
Bruce Family
Michael Bryce
Robert Channen
Terry Clements
Cook Family
Daigle Family
Daniels Family
Patricia Dent & Dave Holtz
Sandra Doughty
Gallagher Pankatz Family
Tony Gibbons
Charity Gilmore
Henderson Family
Todd & Lisa Henry
Gordon Jones
Roger Kendall
Tom Kessel
Kipfer Family
Ken Kirkwood
Ed Koerner
Kopachinski Family
Lalande Family
Derek Leon
Lewis Family
Mary Lynne Lucier
Matt Mannell
Filipe Martins
Greg Matthew
Mattinson/Wurtele Family
Maznyk Family
McAslin Family
McClanahan Family
Louise Moisan
Money Family
Zena Ng
Patrick O’Shea
Russ Parnell
John Podhorny
Jordan Potter
Dean Potter
Shawn Potter
Radtke Family
Robert Rivers
Robinson/Hidalgo Family
Casey Sacerty
Sambells Family
Samson Family
Cheryl Schaefer
Andrew Schram
Schueler Family
Alan Smiley
Brad Smith Family
Scott Smith Family
Judy Sparkes
Cory Spencer
Sumner Family
Will Sumner
Don Taylor
Turner/Morose Family
John Van Rompu
Walker Family
Irvon Weber
Craig Williams
January Program:
Cam Turner on DIY
At the January 2009 KWAS general meeting,
Cam will speak about all of the Mini DIY
projects involved in creating his 180 gallon
“fish wall” project. Cam has applied lots of
information from the KWAS forums and asked
lots of questions of our members. This was a
team effort of applied DIY experience.
Custom Tanks by
Mark at AquaTech
Electrical
Considerations
2x4 Engineering
Painted Backgrounds
Tapping PVC
for Brass Valves
PVC & Clay Pot Caves
Also:
• Life Support Gear
• The “poo sucker”
• DIY Python
• The Lazy Water Changer
• Q&A Session
Tank Dividers
Airline Manifold
12

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
13

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Have you ever wondered why Killies are
so popular in the aquarium hobby? They
are mostly small, hardy fish that can be
kept in tanks ranging from one gallon to
10 gallons. Some hobbyists claim that ten
gallon aquariums are too big for
spawning! I recall going to Jim
Robinson’s home once and he had
puddles of water on his fish room floor
due to the leaky aquarium plumbing. He
was actually not only maintaining Killies
in these puddles but they were spawning
for him there – on the floor!!! Some Killies
have colours that equal those of the most
colourful African cichlids. Killies also
have different spawning behaviors, some
are mop spawners and others are
substrate spawners.
The common name for this interesting
fish is the Green Rivulus or the Cuban
Rivulus. They are found in the upland
streams, rivers and lakes of Cuba where
the vegetation is profuse. It is a cooler
water fish generally found in water
temperatures of 70 to 75°F. The pH is
neutral (7.0) and the dH ranges from 7.0
to 9.0. It is a very easy and hardy fish to
keep, maintain and breed in the
aquarium. It is not a seasonal killie so you
can enjoy this fish for years without
breeding it.
I kept these fish in a ten gallon aquarium.
It had a footprint of a 5-1/2 gallon
aquarium so the actual dimensions are
15x8x16 . There is no substrate and all
that is in the aquarium is floating mops
and sinking mops to cover the bottom. I
have used Java Moss but I have a
14
Breeding Rivulus cylindraceus
Submitted by Al Ridley, KWAS (pyrofish@sympatico.ca). All photos by the author.
tendency to kill that and it just makes a
big mess. Most of the eggs are laid in the
floating mops. Mops are not hard to
make. Wind some colourfast yarn around
a book about 8 or 9 inches (20 to 23 cm)
high. Wind it approximately 20 times
around the book. Colour is not important;
I have used brown, black and dark green
because it makes the eggs easier to spot.
Tie a piece of yarn at one edge of the book
and cut through the bundle at the
opposite edge. You can tie the ends of the
knotted yarn around a cork if you wish
the mop to float, or leave it as it is and let
it sink. It's a good idea to wash the mop
in hot water (no soap) before using it.
Check your mops frequently. These fish
are quite prolific and lay rather large
eggs. Once you spot eggs, pull the mop
out of the tank and squeeze it gently to
wring out the excess water. Make sure
that there are no females hiding in the
mop before you squeeze it. Then,
examine the mop. Fertile eggs look like
tiny crystal balls, transparent and shiny.
You can remove them from the mop with
your fingers. Within a short time of being
laid, fertile eggs become quite hard, so
you don't need to worry much about
crushing them. If they burst in your
fingers, they were not fertile. The eggs are
commonly traded through the mail which
shows the durability of them. I left the
eggs in the tank and allowed them to
hatch naturally. I found that I had a good
hatch and survival rate. I have tried the
other method using peat. Harvested eggs
are placed singly atop moist peat moss in
a closed, darkened container. Keep them
away from each other to prevent fungus
from spreading from egg to egg, and
check them every day to remove dead
and fungused eggs. When they are ready
to hatch, you will see the eyes of the fish
inside the eggs. This takes about 14 to 16
days. Simply place the eggs in some
water taken from the aquarium and
within minutes the egg will hatch.
Sometimes the fry don’t seem to be able
to break out of the shell on their own.
These fry will likely die in their shells
unless they are helped. The solution I
used is to put the eggs in a vial with a
little water, breathe into the vial and cap
it, and then carry the vial around in your
pocket. The agitation usually helps hatch
the eggs.
While all prefer live foods, most are
undemanding eaters. I feed mostly flake
foods and frozen bloodworm. In the
summer, I did harvest mosquito larvae as
a treat.
Killies are rarely encountered in pet
shops, but they are easy to obtain. I will
point out that killies and glass lids are
synonymous. If you plan to keep killies,
you absolutely need to have a tight fitting
lid or at the very least a thick covering of
plants such as duckweed or hornwort.
These fish can be kept in community
tanks or species tanks. I have kept them
in 5 gallon to 72 gallon aquariums with
great success. This species, and most
other killies are hardy and colourful and
are wonderful to breed and keep.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Jar Show Results
November 4, 2008 - Judged by Al Ridley
Anabantids Species
Anthony Mc Aslin Crown Tail Betta 4
Anthony Mc Aslin Double Tail Half Moon Betta 3
Zenin Skomorowski Red Betta 2
Anabantids Juniors
Griffin Quigley Blue Gourami 4
Rebecca Quigley Red Betta 3
Jonathan Samson Female Betta 2
Griffin Quigley Red Betta 1
Jonathan Samson Gold Gourami 1
AOV
Zenin Skomorowski Rummy Nose tetra 4
Anthony Mc Aslin Male Krib 3
Anthony Mc Aslin Killie 2
AOV Juniors
Jonathan Samson Red Platy 4
Rebbeca Quigley Lyre Tail Molly 3
Griffin Quigley Hi Fin Platy 2
Griffin Quigley Red Gularius 1
Jonathan Samson Red Tail Shark 1
Rebecca Quigley Albino Pineapple Sword 1
Plants
Anthony Mc Aslin Hygro Siamensis 4
Anthony Mc Aslin Red Melon Sword 3
Plants Juniors
Jonathan Samson Anubias 4
Jonathan Samson Anubias 3
Peoples Choice
Anthony Mc Aslin Crown Tail Betta 2
2008 Year-to-date Points
Anthony Mc Aslin 79
Zenin Skomorowski 72
Geoff Money 28
Dave Henderson 4
Will Sumner 4
Diane Daige 3
Filepe Martins 3
Leo Lelande 2
Alex Lelande 2
Carrie Lelande 1
Miecia Burden 1
15

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Meeting Minutes
Submitted by Lezley Smith
(executive recording secretary)
General Meeting on Nov. 4, 2008
President Kevin Reimer welcomed
everyone & started the meeting at 7:30
P.M. There were 48 people present,
including 2 new guests.
Executive present: Kevin Reimer
(President), Geoff Money (Vice
President), Lezley Smith (Recording
Secretary), Brad McClanahan (Treasurer),
Al Ridley (Past President)
Announcements:
• Welcome guests & new members
• Shirts, hats, & jackets with KWAS Logo:
unfortunately we’re unable to proceed
with this promotion due to lack of
interest.
• Next Wed @ 7:30 Brantford Aquarium
Society is having an auction only.
• Nov. 8 Hamilton & District Aquarium
Society – Spencer Jack dinner -
Confessions of a Cichlaholic
(www.hdas.ca)
• Nov. 9 Tropical Fish Club of Erie
County Auction
• Dec. 2 KWAS holiday social meeting –
annual awards, reverse raffle, bring
your favourite snack to share.
• The Executive of the club is responsible
for the running of the club & for ‘what’s
going on…’ The KWAS Executive held
a Special Closed Door meeting last
week regarding and incident that
happened towards the end of the day at
Oktoberfish. As a result 2 members
were banned for one year. This is a
closed issue and it is not open for
discussion.
• John and Silvia Cook's little boy
Zachary (KWAS members) was
diagnosed with leukemia and has been
undergoing treatment for it for a while
now. He is about to undergo the most
extreme treatments available. Ed
Koerner and Dave Bradley have a card
where we encourage all members in
attendance sign their best wishes to the
Cook family. Also, they will raise some
funds via raffle for the Cook’s family &
KWAS will match the proceeds
BAP Certificates:
Stephen Crawford: Corydoras aeneus
(Albino cory), Corydoras paleatus
(Pepper Cory), Girardinus metallicus
(Mettalic Livebearer), Poecilia sphenops
(Black Molly).
Al Ridley: Rivulus cylindraceus (Cuban
rivulus).
Kevin Reimer: Poecilia wingei (Endlers
Livebearer)
HAP Certificates: None to report.
Name That Fish:
This month’s first “Name That Fish” was
a group of 3 adult Zebra Obliquidens
(Astatotilapia latifasciata) guessed by
Terry Clements.
This month’s second “Name That Fish”
was a Yoyo Loach (Botia almorhae)
guessed by Jeff Samson.
Our program:
Jim Robinson presented on Breeding
Difficult Fish.
Show Jar Results:
There were 5 people showing 21 fish in 3
classes. See results in the Newsletter.
Library Draw:
$20.50 won by Geoff Money
Raffle Draw:
The large prize was a Niagara 200 Power
Filter with filter media carbon won by
Brad McClanahan. Our second prize was
a Rena 75 watt heater with a corner pump
and air pump won by Rebecca Quigley
Auction:
There was a table of plants and fish
auctioned of by Ed Koerner.
Business Meeting on Nov. 11 2008
Business meeting called to order at 7:30
by Vice President Geoff Money at Geoff’s
home.
Executive in Attendance: Geoff Money
(Vice President), Brad McClanahan
(Treasurer), Lezley Smith (Secretary), Al
Ridley (Past President)
Board of Directors in Attendance: Cam
Turner (Newsletter Editor) Zenin
Skomorowski (Exchanges/NTF) Miecia
Burden (Memberships), Filipe Martins
(HAP chair), Phil Maznyk (Webmaster),
Ed Koerner (Auction)
Regrets: Kevin Reimer, Anthony, Charity
Gilmore, Katie McClanahan, David
Bradley
Special announcement regarding
Executive and BOD positions (Geoff).
Motion to approve October’s business
meeting minutes as published.
Motion: Phil Maznyk
Seconded: Cam Turner
Voted on and Carried
“The KWAS Executive held a Special Closed
Door meeting last week regarding and
incident that happened towards the end of the
day at Oktoberfish. As a result 2 members
were banned for one year. This is a closed
issue and it is not open for discussion.”
The executive and BOD in attendance at
the November Business meeting would
like to amend Kevin’s statement from
the General Meeting held Nov 4 (quoted
above):
One of the Ejected members was removed
due to events prior to Oktoberfish rather
than events at Oktoberfish exclusively.
Motion to approve November’s general
minutes as delivered.
Motion: Miecia Burden
Seconded: Zenin Skomorowski
Voted on and Carried
16

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Future business Meetings:
December: Charity (tentative), alternate
(Miecia)
January: Al Ridley
Treasurer’s Report (Brad McClanahan):
Read by Brad.
Motioned: Al Ridley
Seconded: Phil Maznyk
Voted on and carried.
Correspondence:
A letter of apology was received from
Stephen Crawford for his part at
Oktoberfish.
Committee Reports:
NL Editor (Cam): Going well
Webmaster (Phil): Going well
Program (Al):
• December Christmas social,
arrangements have been made.
• Flounder Downs (Kent) is confirmed -
video camera and projector confirmed
• Geoff to obtain "the racers"
• Reverse Raffle requests are out to
Tropical Fish Room, Mc's Petsworld
and our Advanced Breeders
• Kid’s Auction to be looked after by
Miecia
• Zenin has a Latin Fish Quiz to hand out
• January 2009 will feature a DIY “Fish
Wall” program by Cam.
Exchanges (Zenin): Going well
CAOAC (open): Insurance and
membership payments are due.
Motioned: Al Ridley
Second Zenin
Voted on and carried.
Membership (Miecia):
• 1 family and 1 adult
Auction (Ed Koerner): Going well
Library (David): Absent
Raffle (Charity): Absent
HAP (Filipe):
• Filipe now has the binder.
• Should be caught up by January
BAP (Miecia): Going well
NTF (Zenin): Going well
Show Jar (Anthony): Absent
Lunch (Katie): Absent
Pet Store Liaison (Zenin,Al): Going well
Old Business
• Shop hop in February (Geoff)
• Oktoberfish follow up meeting:
Tentativly third Tuesday in January
New Business
• President Kevin’s leave of absence
• Waterloo tank cleaning schedule
• Annual Awards
17

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
December Exchange Editor’s Report
Submitted by Zenin Skomorowski, KWAS (zenin@golden.net).
The newsletters featured in this column and others are
available to you. Please let me know by email, or at the
monthly meeting, which ones you would like to read.
A relatively new cory to the hobby is Corydoras sp.
“Mazaruni” C-150. Ingo Seidel collected them from a
sandbank along the Mazaruni River in Guyana, South America.
Regina Spotti of the Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society
wrote about her experiences breeding this cory in the August
2008 issue of Finformation. Ingo helped by providing her with
the water parameters at the collecting site. In the same issue,
Stan Chechak detailed his spawning experience with the
Leopard Danio Brachydanio frankei. He describes the
spawning behaviour, the tank and equipment setup, along
with his spawning log book entries.
A popular, colourful addition to a community fish tank is the
Dwarf Gourami family. Joshua Kingston describes several
members of this family in the September 2008 issue of The
Brant Aquarium Society Chronicle. There can be some
aggression between males, especially if females are present.
An overlooked group is the Leaf fishes. This group from South
Asia and the Amazon, are usually small and blend into their
surroundings. Some examples are Badis or Chameleon fish
and the Amazon Leaffish. Read about their water and food
requirements in “Leaffishes”, published in the October 2008
issue of Hi Fin from the Peel Region Aquarium Club. Also in
this issue, Bob Fenner discusses various “Dips and Baths” for
your fish. He details what they are used for and ones to avoid.
If you are looking for an easy, quick growing plant, try
Hygrophila corymbosa. Lisa Boorman wrote about this large
leafed plant in the October 2008 issue of Aqua Antics. If this
plant is allowed to grow emersed (out of the water) purple
scented flowers will bloom. Also in this issue, Wayne Cole
wrote about “Breeding Paralabidochromis sp. Rock Kribs”.
They are a fairly non-aggressive, colourful, easy to breed Lake
Victorian cichlid.
of season duties in the pond. In a Blast from the Past, aeration
techniques are described that were in use during the late 1920’s
and early 1930’s. You had to be somewhat of a patient and
diligent engineer to scavenge and maintain aeration equipment
that was meant for other purposes. We take the for granted the
equipment we have today, and should appreciate how much
easier it is now to provide for our fish.
Derek Tustin details his experience with “Going Topless” in his
regular column My Green Wet Thumb. Topless, meaning no
lid or covering on his planted tank. This allows taller plants,
plants attached to the back wall, and plants floating in a
styrofoam ring with a media basket, to send leaves and blooms
above the water surface. Good choices of plants are various
Cryptocoryne and Anubias species along with Aponogeton
bulbs. Two things to consider with a topless setup are; higher
humidity/condensation in the room with the tank, and fish
may jump out and end up on the floor. With sufficient plant
cover at the surface, there will be a lesser chance of fish
jumping out. If you want try this method of plant growing and
having a sense of continuity between the tank and the room it
is in, read Derek’s article in the October 2008 issue of Tank Talk
from the Durham Region Aquarium Society.
Surf’s up !
Here are this month’s web sites to explore:
Are you really into Cichlids? Check out the American Cichlid
Association www.cichlid.org/index.html
They have an award program, publish bulletins, fund research,
have a trading post, and hold annual conventions. The latest
one was held in Atlanta Georgia this past July
ww.aca2008.com, the next one is in Cincinnati Ohio www.
2009aca.com/images/aca2009_flyer.pdf
I would like to highlight four articles in the October 2008 issue
of The Monthly Bulletin from the Hamilton & District
Aquarium Society. Larry Johnson has gone diving at Luwala
Reef on the East Coast of Lake Malawi. There he saw
Aulonocara Maylandi in its natural habitat. At home, their
breeding activity yielded over 100 very small fry in one
mouthful. In “Spawning the Goo Obo Gudgeon”, Charlie
Drew describes his experience with Mogurnda nesolepis from
the rivers and forest streams of New Guinea. This dark green
mottled fish with yellow fin fringes, likes to sit at sheltered
spots to show their best colours. Charlie also wrote about end
18

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Who will win Fish and Tank of the Year?
All of these photos were taken
by our forum members. Come
help crown our annual
people’s choice winners
between December 8 th and 14 th
at www.kwas.ca/forum.
Everyone is welcome.
19

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8
Join our Forums!
With over 4,000 unique visitors every month our forums are amongst the most active of any ‘local’ hobby club. With members
from all over the world, but especially all over Canada, the wealth of knowledge and advice is astounding. The moderators and
administrators take great pride in maintaining top quality discussion, debate and information and it shows. Thanks to everyone
who participates already. For everyone who hasn’t (yet), come join us and see what all the fuss is about!
Come to our Meetings...
www.kwas.ca/forum
KWAS meets on the first Tuesday of each month from September until June at the Adult Recreation Centre at 185 King Street
South in Waterloo (at the corner of King and Allen). We meet on the second floor in the large multi-purpose room. Parking is at
the rear of the building. The meeting room opens at 7 PM with the meeting starting at 7:30 PM sharp. Please feel free to come out
at any time and learn more about your hobby, KWAS and the many benefits of belonging to our club.
Guests are welcome any time.
Bring your friends and show
them what our club is all
about!
Meeting
Parking
20